Photo: The original uploader was Drakkenfyre at English Wikipedia. / CC BY-SA 2.5 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Robert J. Sawyer is the kind of science fiction writer I gravitate toward because he writes ideas, not just spectacle. Winning both the Nebula in 1996 and the Hugo in 2003 puts him in rare company, and with 25 published novels he's clearly someone who treats writing as a craft and a discipline. What I find interesting is how he straddles a Canadian and American identity, and how his short fiction turned up everywhere from Analog to Nature, which tells me scientists themselves take him seriously. Being made a Member of the Order of Canada feels fitting for someone who has done so much to make thoughtful, idea-driven science fiction respectable.
Overview
Robert James Sawyer (born April 29, 1960) is a Canadian and American writer of science fiction. He is the author of 25 published novels, and his short fiction has appeared in magazines and journals such as Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Amazing Stories, On Spec, and Nature, in addition to several anthologies.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Robert J. Sawyer
- Name (Japanese)
- ロバート・J・ソウヤー
- Reading
- ろばーと・J・そうやー
- Born
- April 29, 1960 (age 66)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Taurus / Rat
- Origin
- Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- science fiction writer / screenwriter / writer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Toronto Metropolitan University
Awards & achievements
- 1996 Nebula Award for Best Novel
- 1997 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire for Best Foreign-Language Short Story
- 2003 Hugo Award for Best Novel
- Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence
- Member of the Order of Canada
- 2006 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
- 1994 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Science fiction writer — see all → · Screenwriter — see all → · More people from Canada →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.